DA62 oil consumption

[Boatguy]

Here's what I've learned that I hope gets me off the steep portion of the DA62 oil level learning curve.

1) My conclusions about the dip stick accuracy were misled by the previous oil change. I had the oil changed last week and 7 liters brought the LH engine to the Max line, but...

2) 7 liters in the RH engine put it above the Max line. The engines are oriented identically, with the sumps on the LH side, but the dihedral of the wing causes the RH engine to read above the Max line. The implication is that the the true Min line on the RH engine is a little higher than the line etched on the dipstick.

3) The RH dipstick is notoriously difficult to remove. CFI Dave showed me a technique for lifting the stick up high enough to read the level without removing it; but I seem to be less adept at this technique. Another former DA62 owner advised me that he used a bench grinder to remove 1/4" of the bottom of the RH dipstick which he claimed is just enough to make it easier to remove.

[mfdutra]

I can’t remove them without making a mess. Checking the oil is a little thing I really miss on the Cirrus. It was dead simple and clean.

[VickersPilot]

Boatguy, very interesting. Are you suggesting that the RH dipstick should have a different calibration to the LH dipstick to account for the dihedral?

[NDCDA62]

The RH Engine Dip Stick is difficult at first but once you master the technique below, it becomes very straight forward:

Unscrew the dip stick and pull vertically upwards as far as you can go, then bring the dip stick handle towards you and out.

A little practice and you will have it mastered.

[Boatguy]

Boatguy, very interesting. Are you suggesting that the RH dipstick should have a different calibration to the LH dipstick to account for the dihedral?

Yes.

[Boatguy]

Boatguy, very interesting. Are you suggesting that the RH dipstick should have a different calibration to the LH dipstick to account for the dihedral?

To put a finer point on this, I measured today, after 7 liters added at the oil change and .5 hrs of flight time.

The RH engine oil level was at the "a" in Max, about 1/4" above the max line. Applying that to the Min line, the true min line is at the "i" in Min.

The LH engine oil level was right at the Max line.

[Jetblast]

We don't have the plane yet as there were some issue found during the test flights so I can't confirm but, by looking at pictures, the engines seem to be levelled, not tilted according to dihedral. Am I wrong?
I have been a couple of times in my life...

[mfdutra]

the engines seem to be levelled, not tilted according to dihedral. Am I wrong?

That's my thinking as well. The wings are mounted outside of the engines. The engines are mounted to the fuselage and inner wings, not the outer long wings, which have a 5.2° dihedral.

[Boatguy]

We don't have the plane yet as there were some issue found during the test flights so I can't confirm but, by looking at pictures, the engines seem to be levelled, not tilted according to dihedral. Am I wrong?
I have been a couple of times in my life...

That was the explanation from my IA and it does explain why the RH engine has a higher oil level than the LH engine when the same amount of oil was added to both engines.

But I agree that his explanation does suggest that then the LH engine should be reading a little less than Max, though that may have something to do with how the engine was originally mounted in the Mercedes A-class which presumably is the baseline.